Please
note, if any member wishes to add an item to the next agenda,
or has a news item that they think will be of interest to club members,
or wishes to dispose of any item of equipment, please email to that
effect on the Club Members Reflector.
National Field Day June 2009
As usual the Club entered into the competition. This is a CW competition running for 24 hours, under canvas and equipment powered by batteries or generators. The Club used its beam atop of the 60 ft mast. This year there was a lack of skilled operators, but despite this and a few other problems , like losing the beam rotator facility half way through and a thunder storm in the night, the points tally of over 900 showed a sterling effort for the two operators involved, Ray G4FON and Barry G4AZN. Club members assisted in providing meals and setting up on Friday afternoon and striking the tents and aerials on Sunday afternoon. All thanks for those involved.
Below are a few photographs taken by Ken our Chairman M1SLH. The operator shown, who did the lions the of the CW operating is Ray G4FON. This year using his newly acquired Elecraft K3 transreceiver.
Ken Taylor M1SLH, our Chairman is very active on the HF bands at the moment and like many, is also looking forward to the coming VHF/UHF season. If you haven't already done so, now is the time to get those antennas checked out and the rig fired up. A good way to check the likely prospect of a contact is to listen for beacons, many run continuously and often use low power. If a DX one is heard then a CQ call at the appropriate frequency may do the trick! Ken offers the following report:-
We should now continue to see sporadic E
propagation most days on 50MHz, and the influence will also been seen on the
higher HF bands, of course. The MUF so far has been kind to 6m users but has
rarely gone high enough to give openings on 4 and 2. I have only seen one Euro
TV event (from
There has been some tropospheric
propagation on the higher band reported, keep an eye on those high pressure
systems. For meteor enthusiasts there are several showers to watch out for in
June; Arietids peak on the 7th, Perseids on the 9th, Bootids on the 27th and
Taurids on the 28th.
To make the most of the seasonal conditions there
are many contests in June; and since several overlap, it isn't always easy (or
necessary) to know which one you are in the middle of. Fancy some DX?
There are expeditions to 8Q, VP2, VP9, HK0, V29 and others this month all
equipped for 6m.
|
Date |
Time
UTC |
Band |
Notes |
|
|
1900
- 2130 |
2m |
RSGB
144 MHz Activity Contest and Club Championship |
|
Sat/Sun
6-7 June 2009 |
|
6m |
UKSMG
Summer Contest |
|
|
1900
- 2130 |
70cm |
RSGB
432MHz UKAC |
|
|
1800
- 2200 |
6m |
Nordic
activity contest |
|
Sat/Sun
13-14 June 2009 |
1700
- 1700 |
6m |
French
Departments Contest |
|
|
0900
- 1300 |
2m |
2nd
144MHz Backpackers RSGB |
|
|
|
70cm
UP |
RSGB
UHF UKAC |
|
Sat/Sun
20-21 June 2009 |
0000
- 2400 |
6m |
Six
Metres International Club (SMIRK) QSO party |
|
Sat/Sun
20-21 June 2009 |
1500
- 1500 |
6m |
YO7VS
sk (Dick) Memorial contest open to all |
|
|
1000
- 1400 |
6m |
RSGB
50MHz Backpackers |
|
Sat/Sun
20-21 June 2009 |
1400
- 1400 |
6m |
RSGB
50MHz Trophy |
|
|
1700
- 2100 |
6m |
The
50MHz open |
|
|
1900
- 2130 |
6m |
RSGB
50MHz UKAC |
|
|
1900
- 2130 |
4m |
RSGB
70MHz UKAC |
All times are UTC (GMT) . For full details of
RSGB contest scoring, exchange etc. see http://www.vhfcc.org
.
Details of all the French contests can be found at http://concours.ref-union.org/calendrier/calendrier.php
For details of the 50MHz Open see http://www.qsl.net/oz6om/the50mhzopen/The50MHzOpen.html
The Nordic Countries home page is http://www.vushf.dk/Pages/contest/nac/nacopen.htm
SMIRK details can be found at http://smirk.org/rules.htm
73 and good DX
Ken
Just to encourage us all. This is a Photograph of Ken's Kenwood TS 2000 tuned to the intercontinental DX frequency, showing a DX signal at 5&9 +20db
Chairman's Barbeque
On Sunday 9th August Ken Taylor M1SLH gave the club his "Chairman's Barbeque" at his home in Abingdon. Members and partners were invited and despite some members being away on holiday, there was a good turn out of participants and it it was a most successful and enjoyable afternoon.
Ken had obviously perfected his "anti-rain dance" and so the afternoon was warm and sunny. Ken's wife Julie and daughter Jo had been busy in the kitchen and together with Ken's skill on the "barby" resulted in a veritable feast which was enjoyed by all. Ken had to suffer the singing of "Happy Birthday" and Jo had made a great Birthday cake for him in the shape of a radio.
Many thanks again Ken, Julie and Jo for a great afternoon!
Here are a few PIX taken on the day.
